Two New Jersey Devils prospects participated in the World Junior Championships Gold Medal Game.
It is over! Team USA captured World Junior Gold over Team Canada. They went into the game as heavy underdogs as people said that this year’s edition of Team Canada was one of the greatest teams ever assembled. The New Jersey Devils had two players participate in this game. This tournament is often cited as a huge part of a prospect’s development, so it was nice to see two Devils in the gold medal game.
Patrick Moynihan was on the Gold Medal winning Team USA. He had himself a good tournament as a depth player. As a 6th-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, he has a lot more developing to do, but this experience should serve him well. He went to the bubble and did what he needed to do to stick on the team and play his role well.
Dawson Mercer is a little bit more highly touted than Moynihan, but they had similar roles on their teams. Mercer is taking home a silver medal with Canada and he was a big part of that success. Canada is so loaded that a player like Mercer was on the fourth line with other skilled players. It wasn’t your traditional fourth line, but it was a trio that knew how to accept and execute their roles. When he gets to New Jersey, he seems to be the type of player that becomes a “fan favorite”.
When Canada entered this game, they had never trailed. That is until Team USA scored a goal to go up 1-0. It was Alex Turcotte of the Los Angeles Kings who scored the goal, the first 5v5 goal Canada allowed the entire tournament. Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks had an assist on the goal and then scored the second goal to make the score 2-0. He ended up winning MVP for the tournament.
This tournament was so much fun to watch. It was one of our first tastes of hockey since the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup to end the bubble in Edmonton. Hopefully, this is the last time we ever have to deal with bubbles and we can get back in the rinks soon enough. The next time we watch competitive hockey, it will be the Boston Bruins taking on the New Jersey Devils in Newark, New Jersey.